Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 548 The Magic of the Olympics

"So Eric is really going to be replaced?" Helen Slater asked as they ate dinner with Ronald.

"It's not up to me to decide. The producer of 'Back to the Future' is Spielberg, and he will generally weigh the pros and cons of switching and not switching."

"But I always feel that his acting skills are very good. His acting skills are not superficial, and every reaction is from the inside out. Just because it doesn't fit the temperament of the movie, did you change him?"

Ronald forked a deep-fried shrimp cake into his mouth, the juice oozed from the deep-fried golden crispy skin, the delicious taste mixed with the deep-fried aroma seemed to explode on the tongue.

"Have a piece of this shrimp cake." Ronald advised Helen to eat more. After suffering from anorexia, Helen was always cautious.But she should be able to try a little of this delicacy.

"Well, it tastes very good. I remember eating this taste in Manhattan when I was a child. The chef of this Greek dish is very good." Helen really praised it after trying it.

"In fact, a movie is like a well-cooked dish. The raw materials, techniques, chef's craftsmanship, and the speed at which it is delivered to our table all determine the final taste." Ronald took a sip of white wine and pointed to the vegetable.

"If the shrimp here is replaced by fish, the elastic feeling will be lost. This dish may be delicious, but it is no longer so delicious."

"I see what you mean, but Stoltz shouldn't have to pay for it. If he can find the right role, like the last 'Mask'..."

Ronald continued to eat, which was not easy for him to answer.It is true that there was a problem with the casting of this role, and Eric Stoltz should not have been chosen to play it.But Zemeckis may have been pressured by the schedule, and there was no way to wait for his favorite Michael J. Fox, so he compromised.

It seems that this is a lesson worth thinking about.For such a big-investment movie (Back to the Future has a budget of more than 500 million yuan), when a suitable actor cannot be found, I would rather postpone or cancel it than compromise, and make it difficult to get off.

"You asked me to follow you. What's the matter?" Helen finished eating, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and asked Ronald with her head tilted.

"I promised Gerald, so I will go with you to meet Minahan of the Cannon tonight."

"Cannon? A breakdancing company?" Helen felt that the exploitation film didn't need any acting skills, as long as the person was pretty.However, her good upbringing prevented her from directly saying, "Thank you Ronnie, in fact, my father is also looking for my acting career, so you don't have to help me find it. After these things, I understand that there are not so many opportunities in the entertainment industry." Yes, I understand."

"This time it's not an exploitation film. It's a new film directed by Andrei Goncharovsky. It's written by Akira Kurosawa." Ronald finished the last piece of food and wiped his mouth. "You should have heard of him, his last film went to Venice for the film festival 'Maria's Lovers'."

Helen raised her eyebrows, it would be very interesting to work with this kind of director.

……

The next day Ronald took Helen to the Cannon.Helen went to interview Konchalovsky first, and Ronald chatted with Minahan here.

"The box office of 'Breakdancing' this week has suddenly increased significantly."

"Why?" Ronald was a little surprised, "Breakdancing" has been released for so long, can it still grow?
"Why, why?" Minahan stood up and turned around twice, "Ronald, it's all because of you! Quack quack."

Minahan suddenly came over and hugged Ronald, and kissed him three times on the left, right, and left sides. "The video of your interview at the opening ceremony was broadcast all over the world. In addition to America, the box office increased by 30.00%, bringing it back to life. And in many foreign countries, we are also required to increase copies."

"Is it so powerful?" Ronald was also very surprised. Although he was expecting the popularity of the Olympic opening ceremony, the movie that was about to be released suddenly revived the popularity, which he did not expect.

"Let your accountant come. Our domestic box office has already exceeded 700 million. If the popularity continues, we hope to hit [-] million." Yoram came in from the outside and interrupted.

"I'll call him right away." When Ronald heard the box office figures, his energy immediately changed.If there is a movie worth more than [-] million yuan, then his worth and right to speak in the industry will be different, right?

But who knows, the charm of movies is that no one knows why they are popular or why they are not.In the two new films, the "Longwei Boy" who put more energy and effort into it still looks like more than 500 million every weekend.Although it didn't drop much, it didn't look like it broke [-] million at all, it just slowly climbed the box office list.

Of course, a large part of the box office of "Breakdance" is not on the list, because the "Hollywood Report" and other entertainment industry newspapers only count the box office of movies released by the seven major studios.And "Breakdancing," after the first six weeks of release by MGM, was transferred to Cannonball's own distribution company.

Outsiders only know that the box office of "Breakdance" has stopped at the figure of more than 4000 million, and only insiders are surprised by the still high production figures in second-round movie theaters everywhere.

"Ronald, I've arrived at the Los Angeles airport and I'm rushing to the cannon. Okay, we'll see you later." Ronald's personal accountant, Lawrence Wang, heard the call and immediately took a night flight to Los Angeles.

He also didn't expect that the film project Ronald participated in would break through the box office of 700 million in America in one fell swoop.In this way, the client he serves will bring him more income than all the others combined.

When Ronald received the call, he was already chatting with Minahan in Cannon's office.

"But I heard from Helen yesterday that Andre appreciated her understanding of acting skills. I thought Andre would choose her." Ronald heard Minahan say that Andre Konchalovsky was not I like Helen, and I am also surprised that I don't want Helen to star in the heroine of "Runaway Train".

This is nothing more than an exploitation film with a tense plot and a large investment.Isn't Helen's figure and face just right for a vase?I also didn't expect her to have very deep acting skills. The female mechanic who was hijacked by two escaped prisoners on the train, this role does not require much acting skills.

"If you want Helen, then we'll let Helen." Minahan was also disapproving of Konchalovsky's rejection of Helen Slater.This old man still thinks he is a character, and he dares to refuse Ronald's girlfriend who helped him the most, it is said to be his ex-girlfriend?

"Don't say that, let's hear his reason."

"Ronald, to be honest, do you think Helen is pretty?" Konchalovsky was called to Cannon Films, and after hearing that Minahan asked him to explain why he didn't want Helen, he touched the bald hair. head, asked.

"Of course it's beautiful," Ronald was puzzled.Among the women he has dated with, Helen's appearance is considered the highest. "Do I have an aesthetic preference? Minahan, what do you think?"

Sometimes, some people have a preference for women with a certain look and think they are the most beautiful, which is normal.Like Spielberg's fiancée, Amy Irving.Many people think that she is not a top beauty, but Spielberg likes her and calls her a peerless beauty.

Ronald has always felt that his aesthetics are closer to the public. I don't know if he is not clear about his own problems, and there is a little deviation?
"Is there anything not beautiful about Helen? Blonde hair and blue eyes, long legs and slender waist, and a good figure." Minahan also felt puzzled, Konchalovsky, what kind of beauty do you want to be satisfied?

"No, it's because she's so beautiful."

"Huh?" Ronald waited for his next words.

"The character is a train mechanic who is occasionally hijacked by two fugitives. She wears a dirty mechanic costume the entire film, so I needed someone who could be very beautiful and also take it back, The kind of beauty who turns into an ordinary girl. Do you understand?"

Konchalovsky looked at Ronald. He knew that Ronald, who was also the director, should understand what he meant.

"Hiss..." Ronald curled his lips, this statement made a lot of sense.A beauty of Helen's level is still very beautiful even in a torn T-shirt.She doesn't have the ability to put her edge into her body and show her approachable side.

"However, if he is unwilling, then the favor he owes to Gerald will be in vain again?" Ronald hesitated again whether to use his influence to force Konchalovsky to agree.

"If you insist on using Helen, then I won't shoot." Konchalovsky originally left the league because of artistic constraints. Seeing Ronald's expression, he immediately took out nuclear weapons, or listen to me , or you hire someone else.

"Ronald," Minahan pulled Ronald aside, "if you want Helen to change to another movie, I'll keep him. If you insist on Helen being the heroine, I'll fire him, but you Gotta take over."

"Me? I don't know how to shoot a snow train scene?" Ronald quickly refused. He originally rejected it because he thought it was too difficult to shoot.

"But what other good scripts do you have here? Aren't they all plagiarized scripts from First Blood II?" Ronald knew that Helen had to arrange a reasonable movie for him, so he had no choice but to reverse it. Hopefully Back to the Future will keep Stoltz so Helen can stay as Jennifer.

Called Helen's father, Gerald, and Ronald informed him of the situation.

Gerald was very reasonable, "I know that Hollywood is no different than the TV industry, and there are not so many opportunities. I won't put pressure on you. Anyway, you just keep this in mind. Helen's 'Supergirl' won't be released until the end of the year. , just don’t let her have no more movies to make.”

"It's still quite stressful." Ronald hung up the phone, and asked Helen to start filming the second movie before or after the release of 'Supergirl', and he still had to hurry up.Go back and ask Spielberg about his decision.

After Ronald finished his business here, he picked up Lawrence, the accountant, and the two went to dinner.

"When are you going back to New York?" The two found a Guangzhou restaurant in Chinatown. The stir-fried side dishes here are good and suitable for both of them.

"I will stay here for a while. This time, Huaguo sent a delegation to participate in the Olympic Games. The Chinatown in New York is very excited. The guild on my street also entrusted me to come to Los Angeles to cheer for the delegation and donate funds They brought some money."

"Money? Is their delegation short of money?"

"Yeah, it costs US dollars to eat and live here. I heard that their foreign exchange is relatively tight, and many athletes can't eat well."

"How can this work?" Ronald took out his checkbook, "How much did you donate? I'll donate a share too. Let them eat well to participate in the competition and get good grades."

"Okay, thank you. I knew Ronald that you have a good impression of Huaguo."

"Thank you to the Chinese and overseas Chinese in New York's Chinatown, thank you for your help, and on behalf of the Olympic delegation, thank you."

The leader of the Olympic delegation accepted Lawrence's donation in Chinatown in Los Angeles, and said on the spot that he would strive to achieve good results and bring honor to the overseas Chinese.

"Is this Ronald Lee also an overseas Chinese?" The team leader asked Lawrence when he saw that one of the checks was in his own name.

"Ah, no, although his surname is Li, he is actually a foreigner and a film director. However, he has always supported us Chinese Americans in America and made a lot of efforts and help for the unfair treatment we suffered here." Lawrence explained why Ronald wanted to donate.

"He said he likes your team very much, and he also likes the results you have achieved. He heard that you don't eat well, so he specifically asked me that the money should be spent on the athletes' meals."

"Please rest assured that this foreign friend, we will definitely use his concern as a driving force and strive to create good results."

Ronald's money, in addition to treating all the athletes and coaches of the representative team to a big meal, still has surplus.After discussing with the team leaders, they decided to give a small talk to a few teams that were expected to win good results, and let the women's volleyball team and gymnastics team come to a restaurant in Chinatown for extra meals the next day.

"This is a foreign film director. I saw your energy at the opening ceremony and liked it very much. He specially donated to our women's volleyball team so that you can improve the food. Think about it, if he knew that you would lose one to three How disappointed can you be to the US team in the group stage?"

The coach of the women's volleyball team is a man with a very dignified appearance. "Next, after eating, we will practice more in the evening. The team leader asked me if I could make it to the finals. If I could, he would send a ticket to that foreign friend. If you can't do it, just say it earlier, we won't eat his food, and we won't be ashamed."

"Why can't we? We must make it to the final." The main attacker slapped the table.

"Okay, think about it, we also want to give some gifts to foreign friends and overseas Chinese. I'll discuss it with the team leader first."

The coach left first, leaving all the meals specially prepared by the restaurant to the players.

"What gift should we return?" Several team members discussed.

"Write him a letter."

"Not this time, this foreign friend is a foreigner, not an overseas Chinese. I don't understand it." The setter was more careful.

"Then we don't have anything to give?"

"Why don't you give him some of that drink?"

"That's right, the orange juice tastes better than the cola that the organizing committee put out. It tastes like traditional Chinese medicine."

"Thank you, thank them for me." Ronald did not expect to get a return gift, some canned drinks, a reply letter from the team members who asked someone to translate, and two tickets to the women's volleyball final.

"Thank you, Director Li, for your love and support to us. We will definitely repay your kindness with achievements. Huaguo is a country with a long history and vast land and resources. I hope you will have the opportunity to come and make a movie to promote our country's beautiful mountains and rivers, and friendly people. people."

Ronald directly read the letter in Chinese.

"It's interesting, it seems that I have to go to Huaguo in the future." Ronald put away the letter, and then went out to attend the meeting of the "Back to the Future" crew.

Before leaving, he took out the box of soda cans, opened a bottle, and drank it.

"Orange water tastes good, it's quite delicious, it seems a bit like Gatorade's sports energy drink." Ronald felt a familiar taste, and he put the can in his hand, with the green pattern on it surrounding a Portrait of a discus thrower.

"Jianlibao?" The name of the drink is written in Chinese on it.

……

"Frank, do you think I should perform at the closing ceremony of the Olympics?" MJ asked his new manager, Frank DiLeo, after a day of practice in his Los Angeles studio.

"I think whether you go or not, you should decide for yourself. You are not only a great artist, I have served many artists, and they don't have the business instinct like you."

"But Quincy said that my current status is not suitable for the closing ceremony. If I want to participate, I should also go to the opening ceremony."

"Didn't he also disapprove of you performing 'Beat it' at the opening ceremony?"

"Yeah", Michael Jackson actually regretted it a bit.The ratings of the opening ceremony were very unexpected. About one-third of American families watched the live broadcast or the subsequent rebroadcast.

When Ronald was being interviewed, the sentence that it would be great if MJ came to perform, deeply hurt him.Why, as the hottest pop star right now, can't he appear in the hottest Olympic opening ceremony?

"I don't know what his reasons are, but you really shouldn't miss out on such a top exposure opportunity. Fortunately, your song is still playing at the opening ceremony." Dirio continued to add fuel.

"Well", MJ regretted even more.The guest appearance in Ronald's "Breakdancing" did not make many people question the originality of his breakdancing steps, but instead allowed him to take advantage of the breakdancing sweeping across the United States, and record sales began to increase again.

"We really should have a good relationship with such a director who is good at pop culture. You can also let him direct your other singles. The song 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' he directed has already got the newly established MTV music Seven nominations for the Grammy Awards. Next year's Grammys..."

"Well," MJ was even more unhappy when he thought of Quincy Jones arbitrarily asking John Landis to direct his single MV.This veteran producer's production skills are really good, but he likes to make his own decisions about other aspects of himself.

"It turns out that the CEO of PolyGram, Gu Beier, didn't want you to authorize the name of the single to make a movie? How about we give it to him and invite Ronald to make it. He is very good at this kind of drama with music and dance. .”

"Well, I'll leave it to you to handle this matter." MJ finally found an aspect that he can control, and maybe he can make a guest appearance in a movie again.

(End of this chapter)